Summer salad of eggplant, pumpkin, olives & pepitas

Summer brings so many new crops to explore, including the heritage and non-typical varieties at your local farmers’ markets. Sweet pumpkin and savoury Lebanese eggplants cut the same and cooked briskly ensure the cooking times are similar to create delicious textural contrasts. This is an excellent side dish to slow-cooked meats, roast chicken and is of course a great topping or filling for tacos or quesadillas.

Ingredients

Quantity

Ingredient

100ml

olive oil

150g

pumpkin, cut into 1.5 cm cubes

150g

lebanese eggplant, cut into 1.5 cm chunks

1

salad onion, diced

3

garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons

cider vinegar

1 handful

oregano leaves, chopped

1 small handful

basil, chopped

large pinch

salt

40g

pitted kalamata or manzanilla olives

1

jalapeno, sliced thinly into rounds

100g

ripe heirloom tomatoes, chopped

70g

chopped feta or salted ricotta

100g

pepitas, toasted

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the pumpkin and sauté for 4 minutes until softened and lightly golden. Add the eggplant, onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes. Pour over the vinegar, add the herbs, salt, olives and jalapeño and cook for another 4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir everything together, then remove from the heat.

Transfer the vegetable mixture to a serving dish, scatter over the cheese and pepitas and serve either warm or cold.